Why is Bihar electoral roll being revised? What’s the uproar over it?

The Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar just months ahead of the Assembly elections in the state has come under scrutiny. The opposition has raised objections to the exercise, while the poll body has defended the move.

The Supreme Court has now decided to hear a bunch of petitions challenging the EC’s revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The apex court has, however, not paused the exercise so far.

Let’s take a closer look.

EC’s power to prepare electoral rolls

Article 324(1) of the Constitution empowers the Election Commission with the “superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of” elections to Parliament and state legislatures.

The electoral rolls are prepared by the EC as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RP Act).

Section 21(3) of the RP Act states that the ECI “may at any time… direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit”.

According to the Registration of Electors’ Rules, 1960, the revision of electoral rolls can be carried out “either intensively or summarily or partly intensively and partly summarily, as the [ECI] may direct”.

A fresh electoral roll is drawn up in an intensive revision, while the roll is amended in a summary revision.

EC’s reasons for intensive revision of voter lists in Bihar

On June 24, the Election Commission announced a “special intensive revision” of the electoral roll in poll-bound Bihar. It asked all existing voters who were not on the electoral rolls in 2003 to provide documentation proving their eligibility by July 26.

Justifying its order, the poll body said that “during the last 20 years significant change in electoral roll has taken place due to additions and deletions on a large scale”, and “rapid urbanisation and frequent migration of population from one place to another… have become a regular trend”.

Voters who migrate often “register themselves at another place without getting their names deleted from the electoral roll of the initial place of residence”, which raises the chances of “repeated entries” in the rolls. The order added that “thus the situation warrants an intensive verification drive to verify each person before enrolment as an elector.”

The EC also cited its constitutional obligation to ensure non-citizens are not enrolled in the electoral roll. It further said it will conduct a special intensive revision for the entire country.

Documents for Bihar voter list revision cause chaos

Electors in Bihar whose names are not recorded in the 2003 electoral rolls — an estimated 2.93 crore voters — have been asked by the EC to submit at least one of 11 documents establishing their date and place of birth for themselves and their parents, along with an enumeration form.

The accepted documents to establish proof of citizenship are a passport, birth certificate, SC/ST certificate, matriculation or educational certificate issued by recognised boards/universities, permanent residence certificate, family register, forest right certificate and land/house allotment certificate by the government.

The EC has excluded Aadhaar and PAN as acceptable documents for the exercise. It said that “Aadhaar is meant for identity of the person, it is not a valid document for the address proof or date of birth.”

Since the EC’s order last month, the Block Level Officers (BLOs) have been visiting households with existing voters to get pre-filled forms signed and collect additional documents if needed.

Electors whose enumeration forms are not submitted by July 25 will be removed from the voter list. They can contest their deletion from rolls from August 1 to September 1.

The draft electoral rolls, which will be released on August 1, will have the names of people whose enumeration forms have been received. The final draft of the voter list will be published in September.

As per the Indian Express report, the EC’s move has created confusion on the ground, raising fears the exercise will hit the poor and marginalised the most. It has spread unease among different sections of the voters, including upper castes, Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and minorities.

“(A domicile certificate is) one of the easiest documents to obtain from the Election Commission’s list of 11. There is a large number of upper caste people in the queue here… this unnecessary revision is hurting everyone,” Vibhakar Jha, son of Saurath panchayat mukhiya Kamini Devi in Bihar’s Madhubani, told the newspaper.

Voters have also questioned the exclusion of Aadhaar among the eligible documents.

“If Aadhaar, PAN, MNREGS cards don’t count among the 11 documents the EC wants for enrolment, why were they issued in the first place,” Mohammed Afsar Ali, a daily wager in Purnia’s Dhamdaha, asked.

Political row over Bihar electoral roll revision

The opposition parties, especially in Bihar, have raised concerns about the EC’s exercise, questioning its timing and transparency.

Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, called the revision of electoral polls in the state ahead of Assembly elections a “conspiracy”. “The last time the routine process of revision of voter list was done was 2003… it has not happened since. And when it happened in 2003, it took about two years to complete,” he said.

Yadav added, “Now elections are to be held in November. Two months are left before the notification process begins. That means the Election Commission has to make a new list… of 8 crore people… in just 25 days. And that too when 73 per cent of the state is affected by floods!”

The Congress said that the poll body’s announcement was a “clear and explicit admission… that all is not well with India’s electoral rolls”. It said in a statement that the electoral roll revision carried the risk of “willful exclusion” of voters using state machinery.

“Lakhs of Union and state government officials will now control and dictate who has correct documents and who doesn’t, who gets to vote in the upcoming Bihar elections etc. This carries a huge risk of willful exclusion of voters using the power of the state machinery,” the party’s committee tasked with monitoring elections said.

The opposition has expressed concerns that the exercise can potentially disenfranchise electors. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called the EC’s move “more dangerous than NRC [National Register of Citizens]”, alleging that her state, which will go to polls next year, was the real “target”.

Amid uncertainty and backlash, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said Sunday (July 6) that the poll panel had “invited all recognised political parties for interaction” on the matter and “no one was satisfied with the current status of electoral rolls for one reason or the other”.

The Election Commission also said that the exercise was being organised as per its June 24 order and “there is no change in the instructions”.

The poll panel’s clarification came after an advertisement in local newspapers by the office of the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) telling voters that they can submit their enumeration forms now and provide the required documents later.

“After publication of draft Electoral Rolls [on August 1], if any document is deficient, EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) can obtain such documents, from the electors whose name appears in the draft Electoral Rolls, during scrutiny in the Claims and Objection period,” the EC clarified.

Supreme Court to hear matter

Several petitioners including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, poll watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms, rights body People’s Union for Civil Liberties, activist Yogendra Yadav and former MLA Mujahid Alam have moved the Supreme Court against the revision of voter lists ahead of Bihar Assembly elections.

The Supreme Court on Monday (July 7) agreed to hear the batch of petitions against the EC’s order on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the poll body has indicated that it is currently not considering extending the deadline for the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar. “More than 1/5th of enumeration forms have come back within two days. At this rate, we might complete the exercise before time, so extension of deadline is not a question at the moment," a top ECI official told CNN-News18.

With inputs from agencies